Carpeting is a floor covering made of cloth or similar fibrous material. It can be very tight or lofty, and may or may not have some degree of shag (soft threads or pieces of yarn rising from its base). A floor is only classified as carpeted when the carpeting is installed across the floor, or ends at a fixed border within the floor; loose or movable rugs do not constitute carpeting, and are not accounted for in the flooring material.

The fixed extent of the covering is part of the definition. A carpeted area can end at a permanent border within a larger floor; it does not have to reach every wall of the room.

The fiber surface distinguishes carpeting from smooth rubber or cork coverings. A movable rug placed on either material leaves the underlying flooring classification unchanged.